Is NHRA out of touch? (2 Viewers)

[PJ]

Thank God

Econo-cars are not going to fill any seats unless you offer Rap music, gaudy "midway" full of parts, and half naked "women" in a foam pit.

They had their own chance, and died on their own too.

As far as ticket prices, go to a nastycar race, INDY, or something else along those lines. I think $50+- for a full day of drag racing beats the higher $ amount for just a few hours of round,,,,, there they go....around..... there they go again.....around.....and so on and so on ...any day.

but the growing amount of empty seats seems to say that we are among the growing few to be willing to pay that amount

 

[Nick Name]

They have both drifting and drag racing out here at Willow. Drifting packs good crowds of young people. They simply don't come to the drag racing.

 

[Rajunz]

Thank God

Econo-cars are not going to fill any seats unless you offer Rap music, gaudy "midway" full of parts, and half naked "women" in a foam pit.

They had their own chance, and died on their own too.

As far as ticket prices, go to a nastycar race, INDY, or something else along those lines. I think $50+- for a full day of drag racing beats the higher $ amount for just a few hours of round,,,,, there they go....around..... there they go again.....around.....and so on and so on ...any day.

Joe offered a valid response, all that you did Jerome was express your opinion, and back up my statement about why the younger generation doesn't feel welcomed. Go to most car shows today and it's just a sea of fat 50 yr. old men in white T shirts with a Chevy emblem on them, and the same old Camaros and Muatangs that we've all seen again and again for 40 years. It's called "The Generation Gap", but the fans are the future.

 

[mike]

I beg to differ on this, kids are still as crazy about their cars today as they were back in the 60's and 70's. It's just that most on this board, (or the current NHRA demographic) won't give them the time of day <snip>.

well that, and many (most?) of today's car guys, young and old alike, have become "what can I buy for my car" guys not "what can I build for my car" guys...and drag racing has always been a "what can you build" type of thing and it's hard for the build guys and the buy guys to relate to one another...

personally I think that has more to do with it than a dislike for FWD or RWD or whatever...it's just 2 completely different mindsets

 

[Toejam]

Joe I'm with you - #2 on that list might be a good start.

I don't pretend to have any answers, but it seems like heads (not egos) should come together to ensure the future of a "quality" NHRA. An NHRA that keeps it's fans and attracts new ones at a modest clip.

A Vince Sighting!!!!!!

 

[Super Mod]

They have both drifting and drag racing out here at Willow. Drifting packs good crowds of young people. They simply don't come to the drag racing.

Just keep prepping the track to 1000 ft and you'll see a lot of "drifting" ....from the Pro Stockers.

 

[NiTROhype]

Just keep prepping the track to 1000 ft and you'll see a lot of "drifting" ....from the Pro Stockers.

Now THAT'S funny!

 

[mw6789]

Mike, the point is that it's not that expensive to get started. Or not as expensive as most people think. When I tell people that I spent less on my whole operation (turnkey car, trailer, tools, parts, etc) than many people spend on a new car they can't believe it.

Right now, the "Complete Drag Racing Cars" section on RacingJunk.com as 1245 cars listed, about 1/2 of them are less than $25k. Yes, that's not cheap, but it's not out of reach for a lot of people. Many people spend MUCH more than that on boats, ATVs, or other toys.

And people would know that if NHRA's job was to scream "come on in, the water's fine".

I do agree---right now there are some bargains to be had. One of my local racer friends was in the other day and said for $25K you can buy a killer rear engine dragster right now on Racing Junk. Of course, Pro type stuff is lots higher, but most dont start there---unless they have LOTS of cash LOL!!! I also agree that NHRA is not doing enough to grow the sport. If you just watch the ESPN show, you would think the lowest class out there is pro stock.

 

[Reese]

Correct me if I'm wrong) but the sportsman classes (as far as I know) are not generating the majority of the revenue at the track, and certainly not on television (hence you won't hear or see anything about them on ESPN). Therefore I would not say that the NHRA national event is a participant driven sport (at least today).

Let's see, if you have 400 sportsman cars at a national event time about $300 entry fee per car equal $120,000 hardly no oil downs, very little tech, and very little respect. I would say that's generating a revenue.
I would like to think I am a pure fan too, just I watch everything and anything going down the track even if I don't care for the class.

 

[Bob K.]

NHRA's been completly out of touch the last two days (website I mean) Has anyone noticed, all my other sites work fine.

 

[clwill]

NHRA's been completly out of touch the last two days (website I mean) Has anyone noticed, all my other sites work fine.

WFM (works for me).

 

[FC138fan]

Let's see, if you have 400 sportsman cars at a national event time about $300 entry fee per car equal $120,000 hardly no oil downs, very little tech, and very little respect. I would say that's generating a revenue.

I stand corrected. What percentage is that for the total revenue for a national event?

 

[clwill]

I stand corrected. What percentage is that for the total revenue for a national event?

About 5%. Lets say you get 50,000 people over the whole event (10k Fri, 15k Sat, 25k Sun), with average spend of $50 per, that's $2.5M.

Sportsman racers just about pay their costs (many additional laps down the track, all the added overnight security, porta-pottys, etc.) and barely make up for their generated headaches (90% of the whining). But we are the "filler" for the event. We add several hundred cars to the "car show" and we fill those endless gaps between pro rounds. In short, we are a "necessary evil" for NHRA, not a profit center.